U.S. stock market futures pointed to a higher start for Wall Street Wednesday, helped by strong earnings results from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Intel.
Two hours before the start of trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 75 points higher at 11032. The S&P 500 futures gained 7.8 to 1172.3, and Nasdaq 100 futures rallied 16 points to 2053. Changes in futures do not always accurately predict early market moves after the opening bell.
Early Wednesday, J.P. Morgan Chase shares were up 1.5% after the bankreported a better-than-expected 23% rise in third-quarter profit. Meanwhile, Intel shares were up 1.9% before the bell after the company said late Thursday that third-quarter net jumped 59%.
The earnings results built on positive sentiment from the previous session on further signals from the Federal Reserve that additional quantitative easing is on the way. The Dow industrials closed up 0.1% Tuesday at 11020.40 and the S&P 500 closed up 0.4% at 1169.77.
Overseas markets were higher Wednesday on the latest Fed minutes. The French CAC 40 index rose 1.6%. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 Average closed up 0.2%.
Stephen Moore, a portfolio manager at Threadneedle Asset Management, said it's hard to gauge the exact impact of further quantitative easing until the full plans are announced, but that equities should do "very well" from any measures.
"There's no doubt that it should create liquidity and that liquidity should flow to what is the cheapest high-risk asset, and at the moment that is equities," he said on a Web conference.
The dollar fell against the euro, but edged up slightly against the yen. The euro rose 0.5% to $1.39911. Gold resumed its push higher, rising to around $1,360 an ounce in electronic trading.
